Latest Suicide Stories

Young men who attempt suicide before age 18 are much more likely as adults to be aggressive toward their girlfriends or wives, including hitting and injuring their partners, according to a new study.This groundbreaking new research provides further evidence of the need for intervention with suicidal teens. It is based on data from 153 males from higher-crime neighborhoods who were assessed yearly from ages 10 to 32, and their romantic partners who participated when the men were ages 18 to...

Attempts to reduce suicide in a population do not always focus enough on high-risk patients, argues an Essay in PLoS Medicine this week that discusses different interventions for "secondary suicide prevention."Whilst primary suicide prevention aims to reduce the number of new cases of suicide in the population and tertiary prevention attempts to diminish clusters of suicides in an area ("suicide contagion"), secondary suicide prevention aims to decrease the likelihood of...

The U.S. Air Force Suicide Prevention Program (AFSPP) has reduced suicide rates significantly since it was launched in 1996, according to a new study that examined almost three decades of data."The enduring public health message from 12 years of this program is that suicide rates can be reduced, and that program success requires interventions to be consistently supported, maintained, and monitored for compliance," the researchers conclude in the study published by the American Journal of...

"While a move can represent a positive change, all moves involve some degree of loss," say Carol Podgorski from the University of Rochester in New York and colleagues in an article published this week in PLoS Medicine, and this can lead to heightened risk for suicidal behavior.Whether by choice or necessity, more older adults are now living in residential homes. And while the residences themselves are designed to be appealing, the underlying reasons that precipitate moving into a...

The first in-depth look at murder and suicide in the United States shows that personal conflicts are among the top factors in such deaths, as opposed to random violence or other crimes. In both murders and suicides, guns are the most commonly used weapons, according to data analysis from 2007 released on Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The pattern that stands out the most is we see a lot of intimate partner violence, mental health problems and substance...

Study finds servicemen and women at increased risk for suicideWhen young servicemen and women return home from a tour of duty, their family and friends breathe a sigh of relief, knowing their loved ones finally are safe and sound. New research, however, shows that is not always the case.Young veterans are at risk for violent deaths at home, especially suicide, according to a study presented Monday, May 3 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia,...

FERNDALE, Mich., April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- VW parts expert Jack Finn is putting Jack Kevorkian's infamous "death bus" on the auction block. Kevorkian allegedly used the bus for assisting terminal patients in committing suicide. Finn, who sold VW parts to Kevorkian over several years, purchased the notorious Volkswagen van in 1997 prior to Kevorkian's incarceration. Finn has been storing the 1968 Volkswagen Bus/Vanagon unused in a warehouse in what he describes as basically the same condition...

KINGSTON, N.J., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The debate over physician-assisted suicide and the right of incurably suffering people to end their own lives has again been brought to national attention by the HBO premiere of "You Don't Know Jack," on the HBO pay-channel, April 24th. The film is based on the book "Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life and the Battle to Legalize Euthanasia," by Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie. Jerry Dincin, president of Final Exit Network (FEN),...

Following the suicide of a relative or close friend, surviving family members and friends are left with a number of painful questions: "What made them do it?," "Why didn't they get help?"  The most troublesome question is often, "Is there anything I could have done to prevent this?" People who are contemplating suicide tend to conceal their behavior, or deny they are having suicidal thoughts, so it can be difficult to identify warning signs. Even experienced...

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), working in collaboration with the Ad Council and the Inspire USA Foundation, announced today the launch of a national public service announcement campaign designed to reduce the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts among teens in the United States. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/43256/...